Two men charged after charity worker stabbed to death

TRIBUTES have been paid to a charity worker who ran a popular after-school club after he was fatally stabbed.

Abdul Samad, 28, who worked for the Dragon Hall Trust in Covent Garden, had proved inspiring to the youngsters.

He died in St Mary’s Hospital – where he was born – on Monday, about an hour after an incident.

Nicole Furre, director of the centre in Stukely Street, said: “He is going to be sorely missed and I’m sure that in the days to come we’ll decide on some sort of memorial when it’s not so raw. We have a very small team and we’re all very close, and Abdul was a key part of that.” She added: “We do a lot of tech stuff and Abdul was the go-to guy, the port of call for that. He was really good with the children and great at explain- ing things, he was even able to make coding sessions interesting.”

Mr Samad had worked for the trust for more than two years and ran sessions across the board with those of all ages.

He also ran the “juniors” after-school club for eight-to 12-year-olds. Ms Furre added that “his reach in this community was really quite big” and that the “ripples out from this one, ridiculously-pointless happen- ing” would be “severe”.

The trust is a tech-focused charity that supports people in the community to get the most out of new technology.

On Tuesday, police released a statement saying the stabbing happened in Fleming Court, St Mary Terrace, at 11.45pm on Monday.

Today (Friday), Nathan Gilmaney, 18, from Maida Vale, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named because of their age were charged on with murder.